INTRODUCTION
This finding aid was digitized with funds generously provided by the Smithsonian Institution Women's Committee. Box 1 of 6
Box 1A of 6
Box 1B of 6
Box 2 of 6
Box 3 of 6
Box 4 of 6
Box 4 of 6
Box 5 of 6
Box 6 of 6
Oversize Contact us at osiaref@si.edu
Revised: June 18, 2003 HISTORICAL NOTE
Eugene Amandus Schwarz (1844-1928) was an important figure in American
entomology, especially in the work of the United States National Museum and
the United States Department of Agriculture. He was born in Silesia in 1844,
studied entomology in Europe, and first appeared in the United States during
1872 as a student of Hermann Hagen at Harvard University. Later in the 1870s
he made a collecting trip to the West with John Lawrence LeConte, and became a
colleague of Charles Valentine Riley and other noted entomologists. In 1878
Schwarz accepted a position in the Department of Agriculture, where he
remained, with a brief interruption, until his death in 1928. He became the
senior scholar of entomology in the Agriculture Department and the National
Museum, thus influencing several generations of entomologists. He was a
prominent member of the Washington professional scene, including the Washington
Entomological Society and the Washington Biologists Field Club; and the
Entomological Society of America. Schwarz had enormous impact on the national
collection of insects, dating from his appointment as custodian of coleoptera
in 1898. He introduced better standards of care and arrangement and
personally secured numerous collections for the National Museum, in addition
to the one made by Henry Guernsey Hubbard and himself. He initiated the
important collection of coleoptera larvae. His field observations extended
throughout all sections of the United States, into Cuba, Guatemala, and
Panama.
DESCRIPTIVE ENTRY
These papers concern the taxonomy and biology of insects, especially the
coleoptera, and include correspondence, mostly incoming, with a number of
American entomologists, notably the following: letters from Henry Guernsey
Hubbard, 1896-1897, regarding Hubbard's trips to Arizona and California and
containing substantial biographical information for the period; letters from
John Lawrence LeConte, 1875-1880, regarding joint work of LeConte, Schwarz, and
Hubbard, especially determinations of Texas, Florida, Virginia, and Michigan
species, mostly coleoptera, including some letters from LeConte to Hubbard;
and very extensive correspondence from Raymond Corbett Shannon and his wife to
Schwarz regarding Shannon's trips to Europe (1924-1925) and field work in
Argentina (1926-1927) and Peru (1928); copies of letters from Schwarz to
Leland Ossian Howard regarding fig trees and their pests in California, 1900;
diaries of Schwarz for trips to Florida (1876, 1919), Cuba (1903-1904), Texas
and Arizona (1898 and 1901-1902), Guatemala (1906), Panama (1911); diaries and
detailed letters listing itineraries of Shannon; biographical information on
Hubbard and Schwarz; and notes and miscellaneous publications.
SERIES DESCRIPTIONS
SERIES 1.
NOTEBOOKS, 1876-1921, 1 volume.
SERIES 2.
CORRESPONDENCE AND NOTES, 1875-1928.
SERIES 3.
ADD ACQUISITION, Accession 89-014.
Hours & Directions ||
Archives Division Home ||
SIA Home